OVER 516,000 NC CITIZENS HAVE TESTED POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS: At least 516,828 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus and 6,549 have died, according to state health officials. On Saturday, the department reported 19,419 new COVID-19 cases over a three-day period. The department did not provide coronavirus data Thursday or Friday because of the Christmas holiday. About 11.9% of tests were reported positive as of Friday, the latest day for which data are available. On Sunday, 3,123 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 in North Carolina. That’s 25 patients higher than the previous hospitalizations record of 3,098, which was reported three days earlier.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article248117925.html

STATE TREASURER SIDES WITH SHERIFFS AGAINST COCKTAILS TO GO: Cooper issued the executive order later Monday, noting that he’d gotten concurrence from the Council of State. But State Treasurer Dale Folwell said he chose not to respond to the Cooper administration’s email. He’s critical of how Cooper has handled the Council of State’s involvement this year, and he wants to discuss proposed executive orders in a meeting — not over email with only a few hours to reply. “These executive orders need to be developed more comprehensively, more transparently, and we have to be able to do that in a forum where we can challenge assumptions,” Folwell said. He argues that the state needs to do more to help restaurants and bars, many of which are likely to go out of business. “It seems that the governor thinks that the ability to order a cocktail to go is going to fix these problems, and the sad fact is that he’s wrong,” Folwell said. Tell that your GOP buddies in the General Assembly, who are sitting on a $4+Billion surplus.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article248079035.html

NC SHERIFFS WON'T SUPPORT COOPER'S MIXED DRINKS "TO GO" DIRECTIVE: The North Carolina Sheriffs' Association said Wednesday that it can't find any legal grounds to support Gov. Roy Cooper's recent executive order allowing restaurants and bars to sell mixed drinks for takeout and delivery. Cooper issued the order Monday as a way to limit the spread of coronavirus without hurting the beleaguered hospitality industry, which already is hindered by capacity limits and other restrictions the governor previously put in place. The order directs the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission to waive any state regulations that would prevent people from obtaining a mixed drink in a sealed container as a takeout order or prevent employees and contractors, such as food delivery services, from transporting such alcoholic beverages in sealed containers to customers.
https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/nc-sheriffs-say-cooper-doesn-t-have-authority-to-allow-to-go-mixed-...

NC TO RECEIVE $700 MILLION IN RENTAL ASSISTANCE FROM STIMULUS: North Carolina could get nearly $700 million from the $25 billion in rental assistance included in the new COVID-19 relief bill that congressional leaders agreed on over the weekend. Part of the estimated $700 million will go to cities in the state with 200,000 or more people. The rest will go to the state government to disburse to more rural parts of North Carolina. Ninety percent of the estimated $700 million must be used for tenants’ past unpaid rent, future rent and utility payments. Payments can be made to the landlord or utility company if the state or municipality chooses to do so. If a landlord refuses the assistance, the money can be sent to the tenant to pay the landlord. Landlords can apply for the assistance on their tenant’s behalf, but the tenant must also sign the application and the funds must be used to pay the tenant’s rent.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article248015120.html

NC CHIEF JUSTICE BEASLEY LEAVES LEGACY TO EMULATE: Beasley became the first African American woman to be chief justice in March 2019. She’d served on the state’s highest court since 2012. On March 13th of this year, 13 months after Gov. Roy Cooper named her chief justice, Beasley issued her first directives to deal with the pandemic. Clerks of court were to make sure notices were posted that people who might have been exposed to COVID-19 not enter the courthouse. Routine Superior and District court proceedings were suspended unless they could be conducted remotely, were to deal with an emergency or due process. She also gave the senior judges in judicial districts discretion to make decisions on proceedings – giving critical consideration to protecting the health and safety of all those involved. There’s little glamour in making sure a job gets done – no matter how challenging the circumstances. But it is the mark of competence that has nothing to do with partisanship or politics.
https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/editorial-n-c-chief-justice-beasley-leaves-legacy-to-emulate/19434839/